Sometime Around Midnight
by WeCallHimHenry
Summary: But no matter how hard he tried, Edd couldn't tell her- that he was afraid of losing her. That he doesn't want her to be sad anymore, and to smile and laugh again, like she did at the dj on the radio. An EddxOC oneshot


_A/N- This story is the oneshot of a story I'm thinking about... DEEPLY. So feedback as to whether or not I should actually write the story would be greatly appreciated. Anyways, Ed Edd n Eddy belong to Danny Antonucci and the song 'Sometime Around Midnight' belongs to the band The Airborne Toxic Event. This story was stuck in my head during my drive home from school, and I am actually incredibly relieved to have finally written it down. Usualy ideas just buzz around in my head until they finally die away and new fascinations are born... Anyways, enjoy!_

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><p><em>And it starts<em>

_Sometime around midnight_

_Or at least that's when you lose yourself_

_For a minute or two _

Edd opened his eyes to darkness, listening to the slight whir of the a/c from the passenger side seat in the small car. Glancing at the clock, he noticed that it said 7:38, but it was a well known fact that the clock was always 1 hour and 54 minutes behind. Or, as Addie likes to phrase it, 2 hours late and 6 minutes fast. As though she knew he was thinking of her, Addie whispered a good morning to him, not taking her eyes off the road as she turned the volume up on the radio, listening to some sad man's singing.

_And the band plays some song about forgetting yourself for a while_

_And the piano's this melancholy soundtrack to her smile_

_And that white dress she's wearing, you haven't seen her_

_For a while _

Summoning enough strength to turn his still tired head towards her, Edds hazed mind barely processing basic thought as he observed her. Addie seemed content, something she hasn't been since the start of college this year. Ever since leaving her family to go to college, Addie seemed almost... sad, and deep in thought. Edd glanced at the white sundress peaking out from under her bulky black sweatshirt. It was strangely out of season, considering the cool autumn weather, but she wore it anyways, uncaring as to whether or not she contracted a cold. He tried not to fret and merely enjoy the time he spent with her, knowing that in a day or two the both of them would be too immersed in their studies, he with his multitude of science and engineering classes (he couldn't stop with just one, there was simply too much knowledge out there to go unexplored!) and she with her English lit major.

_But you know_

_That she's watching_

_She's laughing, she's turning_

_She's holding her tonic like a cross_

_The room suddenly spinning, she walks up and asks how you are_

_So you can smell her perfume_

_You can see her lying naked in your arms_

Addie pretends to be watching the road as she should be, but Edd knows that she keeps glancing in his direction, trying to see if he's really awake or if it's just her imagination. Edd smile at her slightly and reached over to cover the hand of hers that wasn't on the steering wheel with his, their finger intertwining. The dj for the alternative radio station she settled on must have said something funny, because suddenly Addie's laughing, turning her head towards Edd with a bright smile on her face before she returned her gaze towards the road, almost forgetting that the road she was searching for was supposed to show up any second now. Edd just lightly squeezed her hand before inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. _'Books. She always smells like fresh pages in a book..._' Edd thought, briefly wondering if it was the books scattered over the back seat of her car, before deciding that it was simply Addie; she's always smelled that way. Finally, Edd surrendered to his subconscious, musing over the summer prior to college, when it was only them and things had been much less hectic...

_And so there's a change_

_In your emotions_

_And all of these memories come rushing like feral waves to your mind_

_Of the curl of your bodies, like two perfect circles entwined_

_And you feel hopeless, and homeless, and lost in the haze of the wine _

Edd was sitting in a theater, the screen showing him his senior year in its entirety. The first time he met Addie in AP Calc class (she had struck him as oddly familiar,) the first time they saw each other outside of school (her hair reminded him of fire, what with the autumn wind whipping it about her head,) seeing her at all of her different jobs (she was never able to hold one down for very long until she finally landed a job at a small local bookstore,) looking up and seeing her in PE class before getting wacked on the side of the head with a dodgeball (she was supposed to be in her senior writing class, but she sat there at the top of the bleachers, scribbling away in her little notebook acting as though she had always belonged there,) and finally her face, olive skin covered with dark freckles all over, even on her eyelids, eyes the brown of milk chocolate framed by her black eyeliner and long eyelashes, and her entire face framed by wild curly dark red hair.

He remembered thinking that she was lazy, never paying attention in class, always looking tired and reading. He thought that she was wasting her intelligence, not even trying, even though half of her classes were AP and she has proven that she was acapable of understanding complex work that would be lost one most others. That is, until he got to know her, her dreams, her love for books, the impossible hours she kept ('No one should only sleep 4-5 hours a night, get some rest!' he had told her) and her determination to get out of Park 'n' Flush trailer park, and go live in an apartment in the city. Edd dreamt of the first time they kissed, their lips melding together perfectly, just as they should. Suddenly the theater melted away into a ball room, people twirling. It was as though they were synchronized, everyone stepping with this foot that way, their partner responding a beat after, everything in time. Off in the distance, Edd noticed her. Addie stood in the corner, wearing her white sundress, holding a wine glass like a cross, as though she was unsure as to if she should actually drink it or not. Edd started to step towards her, determined to hold her in his arms, unused to seeing her look so unsure of herself, so out of place.

_And she leaves_

_With someone you don't know_

_But she makes sure you saw her, she looks right at you and bolts_

_As she walks out the door_

_Your blood boiling, your stomach in ropes _

_And then your friends say "What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost." _

Edd makes it half way across the room before a man steps towards Addie, gently grasping her elbow. Addie turns towards him before looking back towards the crowd. This time she spies Edd off in the distance, and that melancholy smile reappears on her face. That sadness that Edd has been trying so hard to keep away, wanting her to always be smiling and laughing, like she was before, had come back. But not for the same reason as usual. Addie smiled as though she was remembering a past love, one that no longer had a place in her life. Edd heart broke as she turned away, walking out of the room with the unknown man.

It was enough to make Edd sick. His stomach knotted, his face heating up as tears threatened to spill. '_No_.' Edd thought, determination flooding his body. _'I WILL NOT let her go. It WILL NOT end like this_!' With that mind set, Edd fought through the crowd, heat seeping though him, reaching all the way to the very marrow of his bones. Finally he reached the doors Addie had ghosted through earlier with the unknown man. Edd threw them opening, revealing... nothing. It was all black, as far as the eye could see.

Edd bolted awake, gasping for breath. Addie shook him slightly, her eyes filled with worry. She had pulled of to the side of the road so she could sit and stare at him, wondering if everything was okay. "What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost." she asked, her hand lightly squeezing Edd's trembling one. But no matter how hard he tried, Edd couldn't tell her- that he was afraid of losing her. That he doesn't want her to be sad anymore, and to smile and laugh again, like she did at the dj on the radio. But instead, he got out of the car, wanting- no, needing- fresh air.

_And you walk_

_Under the streetlights_

_And you're too drunk to notice that everyone's staring at you_

_You don't care what you look like_

_The world is falling around you _

The night air enveloped Edd as he took a couple of steps away from the car. He breathed deeply, the cold chasing away the remaining tendrils of the nightmare that had managed to wrap themselves around Edd's thoughts, overwhelming him. Addie hadn't followed Edd out of the car, choosing instead to watch him from within, her eyes following his every shaky breath, wondering what had happened to scare him so completely. But Edd didn't notice- he was looking up towards the street light, watching his warm breath snake out of his mouth, slowly calming himself down.

It was a while before Edd had finally climbed back in the car and Addie drove off once more, the two of them dropping the subject as though it had never happened. He would tell her in the morning- they both knew it. Just not right then, when it was still so fresh in his mind and when the darkness had prevailed, making every possibility seem so much more likely, both the good and the bad. Right know, the two of them merely sat in the car in comfortable silence as the scenery blurred once more.

Edd glanced at the clock a second time that night, the time now reading 10:06. Midnight. Looking towards Addie, Edd studied the planes of her face, bathed in the glow of the unrelenting low gas light. He wished time would freeze, and they would stay as they were in her car, driving nowhere yet everywhere at the same time. Unending, ceaseless, perpetual. Amaranthine. Waiting until they had stopped, Edd leaned towards Addie, landing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Happy birthday, Adelaide Penderghast," Edd whispered into her ear before she slowly turned towards him. They stared into each others eyes, their low breaths mingling in the air. "I love you" was all Edd was able to get out before Addie gently kissed him on the mouth. A few seconds later they parted, breathless. "And I you, Eddward."

The future would never stop being frightening. But they would stay together. Even if it broke him in two.

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You just have to see her_

_You know that she'll break you in two _


End file.
